TAMIU, UTSA, Three Texas Public Universities
Form Texas Homeland Security Group

(San Antonio) – A Memorandum of Understanding signed last week by Texas A&M International University, the University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas A&M Engineering and the University of Texas at El Paso has formed the Texas Homeland Security Group (THSG), creating a proactive multi-institutional team to train, educate, respond and deliver products to address important issues in homeland and border security.

The THSG is a team effort whose goal is to attract and apply research funding targeting important issues in homeland and border security. As a group, the four Texas universities provide more integrated capabilities and expertise to solve security issues than any single university.

“The partnership brings expertise in science and technology, basic and applied research and social and behavioral science that can promote, develop and disseminate scientific, educational training and policy solutions to issues affecting the public and private sectors in the State of Texas, the U.S., Mexico and other identified areas,” Dr. Cass said.

Cass said the THSG will:

Provide a leadership role in identifying problems, challenges and solutions for security issues at the local, state, regional, and federal levels.

Present an integrated, multi-institutional set of capabilities to Texas, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, Transportation Systems and other relevant issues.

Demonstrate the value of increased investment in Border Security research, development, testing, evaluation, and field demonstrations.

Conduct cost-effective and timely basic research to complement applied problem-solving; utilizing existing and ongoing research results from other cross disciplinary fields when appropriate.

Serve as a clearinghouse to provide the latest information related to border security issues, seminars, papers, and publicly announced competitive research opportunities and solicitations.

Conduct seminars, workshops, and conferences among group members.

For additional information, contact Dr. Cass at 956.326.2601 or jcass@tamiu.edu. Information is also available from Dr. Jeffrey Brown, director of graduate studies and research, who can be reached at 956.326.2596or jbrown@tamiu.edu

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